Warm winter nights for homeless Australians

AGL’s Warmth in Winter support frees up valuable funds that can be redirected to services which directly assist homeless and vulnerable Australians.

As a provider of energy to more than 3 million homes across the country, Energy for Life’s Warmth in Winter initiative is AGL’s way of assisting those Australians who may not enjoy the comfort and security of a warm home each night.

For four years now, AGL's Warmth in Winter has been helping to fund the winter energy bill of emergency accommodation services in NSW, Victoria, SA, and since 2007, Queensland.

In 2007 AGL contributed to the energy bill of nearly 300 services, funding the equivalent of 140,000 warm winter nights for homeless Australians. Our support to these agencies frees up valuable funds that can be redirected to services which directly assist their clients. Since the program began Warmth in Winter has funded more than 520,000 warm winter nights for homeless Australians.

And as responding to climate change becomes a growing priority for all of us, Warmth in Winter now funds a number of energy audits and installations of energy efficient retrofits for selected emergency accommodation services, helping them to make ongoing reductions to their energy consumption and costs. Last year our support helped 12 services save between $800 and $10,000 a year – which in terms of carbon emissions was the equivalent of taking 35 cars off the road. Our 2007/08 support aims to fund an increased number of energy audits to help more services achieve ongoing year-round financial savings and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Thank you to everyone who applied to the 2008 Warmth in Winter program. The application period is now closed. Processing of applications will commence shortly and all applicants will be notified in late August.

For more information please contact Judy Douglas on 02 9921 2624.